


A New Place to Begin

by agendergrim



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-04 12:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14020023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agendergrim/pseuds/agendergrim
Summary: Rantarou and Korekiyo had been living together since the two met on the crossroads of the worst times of their lives. They're trying to figure out the rhythm of life again, and along the way, they find that they quite like the tempo they go at when together. As they heal, they finally become a part of their friends' lives again. (a series of drabbles for a happy AU where the game doesn't happen for V3, because, y'know, we always need some of those)





	1. Quiet

Things are quiet in the apartment. It’s usually that way, but it’s a special kind of quiet. The windows are open, just slightly, enough to let in a slight breeze that rustle the translucent curtains of the apartment. Rantarou closes his eyes, taking in the birds tweeting distantly, the sound of only the occasional rushing car. He focuses on the sound of the wind, carrying the cool air and maybe some sort of secret, mystery, an answer to a long time question on his mind.

 

And then there’s the sound of steaming hot water being poured in little cups for two. The small clatter of silverware, the slight clash of metal against the top of the oven, and footsteps like feathers dusting the wood floor. Rantarou smiles at the thin figure placing the plate of cups on the coffee table before sitting next to him like a dainty little japanese doll, complete with pale skin and pretty red lips. Korekiyo lifts a cup to his lips, looking over to Rantarou, an eyebrow raising after a moment.

 

“Is something the matter?” Korekiyo asks.

 

“Nah, nah,” Rantarou dismisses Korekiyo’s question, taking his own cup and taking a sip. Nothing like tea to complete the atmosphere of a quiet morning like this. “Just glad to have you around y’know? Even the quiet moments are worth somethin’ these days.”

 

Korekiyo tilts his head, intrigued, and he smiles slightly behind the cup he still held up to his face. “I’m glad I could help you realize that. There is beauty in the calm of life. Calamity can shape a person, but true peace is what any person strives for. Of course, that can mean so many different things to people…”

 

Rantarou smiles, closing his eyes and taking everything in once more with another sip of tea. He remembers the best part about the quiet moments; they make those moments where Korekiyo rambles on that much more worth it. Like laying your head on a pillow and listening to ocean noises, there’s always a rush when Korekiyo talks before finally, it becomes a steady stream of warm water over Rantarou’s entire body, easing away the troubles of the day.

 

Maybe it wasn’t just the feelings of one roommate to another. But maybe that’s alright, Rantarou thinks. Maybe that’s just fine.


	2. Distracted

“You seem lively.”

 

Rantarou finds these words somewhat ironic coming out of the mouth of the laziest magician in the world, but he dismisses the thought. He instead shoves the book in his hand back into the bookcase, and slips out another one to leaf through. “What makes you say that?”

 

“You’re not even reading those,” Himiko points out. “You’re just flipping pages here and there. Trust me. I’ve done it before. I can tell.”

 

Rantarou closes the book in his hands, somewhat huffy at Himiko’s words. “I’m just skimming them. Looking for one I like, y’know?”

 

Himiko blinks. “Sure.”

 

Rantarou grabs a magazine from a rack this time, slipping open a page without even looking. No, his eyes follow Korekiyo’s path around the bookcases, picking out specific books, hair flowing behind him like a princess’ canopy. Rantarou tends to visit the library here and there because of the quiet, but ever since he began living with Korekiyo, he’d start going more. He found himself addicted to watching Korekiyo do little things, slender fingers flipping pages, long lashes bouncing slightly as he blinks. He gets so absorbed in the little details, he hardly realizes the fact he’s so distracted at all.

 

Himiko leans over, plucking the magazine from his hands. Before Rantarou can protest, they place it back in his hands.

 

“It was upside down,” Himiko smirks.

 

Rantarou buries his head in the magazine now, hoping it would hide the red on his face.


	3. Thanks

“Rantarou…”

 

His voice was so soft, Rantarou questions whether he heard it at all. But when he looks up, Korekiyo is looking at him from above a large scarf, wrapped tight around his neck and mouth. He no longer wears the outfit given to him from his sister, but it leaves him anxious leaving the apartment without something covering him the same way. Rantarou finds it cute, and sorta cozy. Like he was warm to hold.

 

He answers back, “Korekiyo.”

 

Rantarou swears he can see the smallest twitch of a smile peeking over the scarf. “I… I just wanted to say thank you.”

 

Rantarou raises his eyebrows, feeling something warm begin to form in the center of his chest. “Huh? Me? For what?”

 

Korekiyo continues staring down at the street, quiet for a while. It’s late afternoon, and the sky was beginning to tinge pink and yellow. It’d been getting warmer, but it’s cold today, and the breeze bites a little at Rantarou’s arms. He rubs them as the two wait for their ride. 

 

They were going with Kaito, Gonta, Ryoma, and Shuichi out to some bar, Kaito and Ryoma talking about some sort of sports team as Gonta talked about this new endangered species he had been researching, Shuichi politely listening. And that was just over the phone. Sometimes Rantarou forgets that they’re adults now, that it had been years since what haunts him happened. He tries not to think about the numb feeling of watching your friends go on through life while you stay stuck in place, unable to do anything but watch everything fast forward in front of you. And every moment, every step, every face, is yet another person that could be easily gone. But all he could do was watch.

 

Rantarou was nearly stuck in the images and feelings of the past until he felt cold fingers intertwine with his. He blinks, looking at the street again, and not the rocking floor of a boat, and he looks up and meets a pair of the most beautiful pair of eyes he’d ever see. The warmth in his chest blooms into a fire through his body.

 

Korekiyo’s voice is always soft, always quiet. His words made up for what volume never could. “Thank you for being there for me all this time.”

 

Rantarou smiles. It’s a bit lopsided, but it’s genuine, and Rantarou clutches Korekiyo’s hand and swears in his head never to let go. “No problem, man. And...thank you too.”

 

They’re still holding hands as Kaito pulls up to them, music blaring. Rantarou can’t hear it over his heartbeat.


	4. Feelings?

Himiko stares up at Rantarou as Rantarou’s eyes refuse to leave the laminated menu in his hands. He knows the moment he looks away, Himiko’s mouth will open. And he knows what she’s going to ask. It was a dangerous game he was playing. Luckily, he still hadn’t decided what to get on the menu.

 

He feels their stare leave for a moment. He makes the mistake of letting out a relieved breath, closing his eyes, and when they’re open again, they meet Himiko’s.

 

“Shuichi told me you were holding hands with Korekiyo,” they said, expression as blank as ever. However, their interest showed in how they leaned forward as they spoke, eyes never leaving Rantarou’s face.

 

Rantarou sighs deeply now. “So? We hold hands sometimes.”

 

Himiko’s eyelids lower as do their eyebrows. “Yeah, we’re friends. What you feel for Korekiyo is totally different. It’s like comparing water and ice magic.”

 

Rantarou smiles a little at Himiko’s comparison. Classic Himiko. “What’s your point?”

 

“What exactly  _ do _ you feel about Korekiyo?” Himiko asks, and for once, their voice actually pitches up in curiosity. They must really be interested.

 

Rantarou is about to answer, putting down his menu, but then he stops. Everything stops. He blinks, staring past Himiko and past the cafe they sat at, his entire mind blank.

 

His face turns sad a moment, and Himiko bites their lip, about to open their mouth and express their concern before suddenly, Rantarou picks up the menu with a shrug, as if nothing happened.

 

“I’unno.” He finally answers.

 

It’s quiet the rest of the time the two are there. Rantarou can’t stop thinking about the question. Something in him felt different now. His feelings were always just something that just…  _ were _ . He never thought about them, or wondered how to put them in words. But now… now people are seeing them unfold into something more solid, more real, more physical. And he doesn’t know what they are. He doesn’t understand it. Not yet.

 

Not yet.


	5. Moonlight

Sometimes the nights are the hardest. Rantarou lays his head on the small round table sitting in the kitchen of the apartment, arms spread out in front of him. He stares blankly at the walls of the apartment, watching day turn to night out the corner of his eyes. Pinks and yellows to blues and purples and then absolute pitch black. Moonlight streams in through the curtains, highlighting all the empty space on the couch. Not a single noise. No wind, no TV, just his breathing. 

 

There’s something on his mind. He looks up at the moon for a moment, before turning back to the wall. Was she still alone? It strains his heart as he wonders, is she absolutely alone under the same moon?  _ It should’ve been me. It should’ve been me. _ Despite the pain growing in his chest, he finds himself unable to cry. He doesn’t believe he deserves to, anyways.

 

The quiet goes from peaceful to suffocating. He feels his vision waver, he feels himself shrink, becoming a different him in a different time for a moment. But only a moment.

 

Something touches his hand. He jolts up like lightning, heavy breathing as he nearly falls out of his chair. He stares at a surprised Korekiyo from across the table, whose fingertips were gently touch his.

 

Rantarou shakes his head, laughing. “Give me some sort of warning next time, will you? I didn’t even notice you come in.”

 

“I’ve been sitting here for ten minutes now,” Korekiyo says, voice soft as always.

 

Rantarou blinks. “ _ Really? _ ” He hadn’t even heard his footsteps. He hadn’t heard or seen anything. But now that he’s back in the moment, he does notice a small candle lit in the corner of the room by the TV, illuminating the dark apartment.

 

“Yes,” Korekiyo now moves to wrap his hand around Rantarou’s, and though it's brief, and it's subtle, Rantarou feels the pain in his chest dull. He feels something warmer beginning to take over. “You seemed deep in thought. I hadn’t wanted to scare you, however…”

 

“It’s alright,” Rantarou laughs, waving it off with his free hand. “How was hangin’ with Shuichi?”

 

Korekiyo’s expression is hard to read sometimes, only having his eyes piercing through another's soul above a dark scarf. Rantarou began to understand, little by little, how to read Korekiyo’s different expressions, but he was weary right now and couldn’t quite decipher what the other was thinking. “It was… fine. Shuichi is a calming presence at times.”

 

“Isn’t he?” Rantarou grins, happy to hear Korekiyo getting along with others. When Rantarou first met Korekiyo, the man would never meet up with others. He was so focused on finding friends for his...sister. He was so focused on his sister then. Once Rantarou convinced him to go to therapy, however, he slowly began to come out of the shell his sister had put him in, coming along with Rantarou to meet the others. Now, he’s began seeing them on his own. It makes Rantarou oddly proud.

 

However, Korekiyo grows quiet, leaving an awkward silence between the two. Rantarou taps the table, antsy as the seconds passed. He knows he’ll drift from reality again if this continues. Part of him was always still in another place, another time, and it’s going to take the rest of him with it if he lets it. And most of the time, he didn’t have the strength to fight back.

 

Korekiyo speaks first. “Kaito came to visit while I was there. I observed the two interacting, as I often do.” Korekiyo scratches the back of his neck, awkward. “I’ve got a bit of a people watching habit. But I noticed… the two were so different and yet their interactions were so smooth. It was like watching two childhood friends who were one and the same.”

 

“You sure you weren’t just mesmerized by the weird handshake Kaito made up for them?” Rantarou jokes, and he feels that tiny bit of warmth in his chest bubble up bigger as Korekiyo lets out a chuckle.

 

“Perhaps,” Korekiyo replies, a bit of a smile peeking out from his scarf. It began getting loose from around his neck, and these days, Korekiyo began to mind less and less. “I think it just...bothered me. We were all in high school together, and yet…”

 

“Hey,” Rantarou speaks up now, and without thinking, his other hand grabs Korekiyo’s, and now he’s staring him firmly in the eyes. “We were going through lots of shit then. Can’t blame us for not being that close to all our classmates, y’know? It’s alright if you’re just getting to know them now. It’s like the saying goes, better late than never. You like sayings, don’t you?”

 

Rantarou feels Korekiyo’s hand, delicate and stiff, relax and melt in his, and he watches Korekiyo’s long lashes move as he blinks, one, two, three. Quiet. Then, he nods.

 

“Yes. I love the different sayings across the world. The different plays on languages, the stories behind their meanings…”

 

Rantarou gently squeezes Korekiyo’s hands. “Then just keep moving forward. Remember that one?”

 

Korekiyo’s eyebrow shoots up. “Isn’t that one from that movie you like…  _ Meet the Robinsons _ ? Is that what you do when I’m gone?”

 

Now Korekiyo’s laughing, and so is Rantarou, and finally, the night isn’t so lonely anymore.


End file.
